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The Andy Griffith Show

The Pickle Story

  • Episode aired Dec 18, 1961
  • 26m
IMDb RATING
9.2/10
509
YOUR RATING
S2.E11
  • S2
  • E11
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  • IMDbPro
Frances Bavier in The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
  • Comedy
  • Family
No one will admit to Aunt Bee's homemade pickles being the worst they've ever tasted. Andy switches them with store-bought ones to avoid eating hers, but her decision to enter them in the co... Read allNo one will admit to Aunt Bee's homemade pickles being the worst they've ever tasted. Andy switches them with store-bought ones to avoid eating hers, but her decision to enter them in the county fair presents a dilemma.No one will admit to Aunt Bee's homemade pickles being the worst they've ever tasted. Andy switches them with store-bought ones to avoid eating hers, but her decision to enter them in the county fair presents a dilemma.
IMDb RATING
9.2/10
509
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Bob Sweeney
  • Writers
    • Harvey Bullock
    • Sheldon Leonard(uncredited)
    • Aaron Ruben(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Andy Griffith
    • Ron Howard
    • Don Knotts
Top credits
  • Director
    • Bob Sweeney
  • Writers
    • Harvey Bullock
    • Sheldon Leonard(uncredited)
    • Aaron Ruben(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Andy Griffith
    • Ron Howard
    • Don Knotts
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 13User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos19

    The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    Frances Bavier and Hope Summers in The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    Andy Griffith and Don Knotts in The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    Ron Howard, Andy Griffith, and Don Knotts in The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    Andy Griffith and Don Knotts in The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    Andy Griffith and Hope Summers in The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
    Frances Bavier and Hope Summers in The Andy Griffith Show (1960)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Andy Griffith
    Andy Griffith
    • Andy Tayloras Andy Taylor
    Ron Howard
    Ron Howard
    • Opie Tayloras Opie Taylor
    Don Knotts
    Don Knotts
    • Barney Fifeas Barney Fife
    Frances Bavier
    Frances Bavier
    • Aunt Bee Tayloras Aunt Bee Taylor
    Hope Summers
    Hope Summers
    • Clara Johnsonas Clara Johnson
    Lee Krieger
    Lee Krieger
    • Motorist from Oregonas Motorist from Oregon
    Stanley Farrar
    Stanley Farrar
    • County Fair Judgeas County Fair Judge
    Warren Parker
    Warren Parker
    • County Fair Judgeas County Fair Judge
    Tom Jacobs
    Tom Jacobs
    • Townsmanas Townsman
    • (uncredited)
    Colin Male
    Colin Male
    • Announceras Announcer
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Bob Sweeney
    • Writers
      • Harvey Bullock
      • Sheldon Leonard(uncredited)
      • Aaron Ruben(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit
    Aunt Bee is a wonderful cook but she just can't seem to make a tasty pickle. She's at it again, though, putting up another batch for the boys, who have never had the heart to tell her they taste terrible. Rather than choke down any more of her "kerosene cucumbers," Andy, Barney, and Opie substitute good store-bought pickles for her bad homemade ones. Having lost to Clara Johnson in the best pickles contest at the fair eleven years in a row, Bee thinks her latest batch is a winner and decides to enter. Knowing it would be unfair to the other contestants, especially Clara, for store-bought pickles to be entered, the boys must eat every one of the substitutes so Aunt Bee will have to make another batch of her own for the contest. —bobbymaxwell
    • pickle
    • county fair
    • canning food
    • county competition
    • deception
    • 11 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Comedy
      • Family
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ron Howard later confessed that he actually hated pickles.
    • Goofs
      Aunt Bee says she's entered and lost the homemade pickle contest at the fair for ten years in a row against Clara, but she'd only moved to Mayberry during the previous season.
    • Quotes

      Barney Fife: I don't know how I can face the future when I know there's eight quarts of these pickles in it.

    • Connections
      Featured in The Andy Griffith Show Christmas Special (2015)
    • Soundtracks
      The Fishin' Hole
      Written by Earle Hagen and Herbert W. Spencer (as Herbert Spencer)

      Performed by Earle Hagen

    User reviews13

    Review
    Top review
    4/10
    This doesn't fit in with rest of excellent series
    I rated this episode low - 4/10 - because so much of it goes against the established theme and facts of the entire series and therefore didn't sit right with me at all.

    The most obvious one of all is the glaring anomaly that Aunt Bea is an excellent cook with all foods in all the other episodes of the series, except when she makes pickles (and marmalade, according to the brief epilogue). It doesn't fit with her natural ability as a great cook (which is a fact known by many people), that she fails miserably when it comes to making homemade pickles (and marmalade), so the entire episode breaks an important benchmark of the general continuity of the entire series.

    Secondly, the inherent theme of the series is that honesty is the best policy - that cheating, lying, and fraud is wrong and bad and unacceptable no matter the reason behind it. Yet Andy not only shrugs off the deception of the elaborate scheme of switching Aunt Bea's pickles with store-bought ones, but he is the one who comes up with the idea in the first place, AND he involves his young son in the deception, which he didn't have to do and could possibly undo all of his previous teachings of honesty being the best policy in all situations.

    Thirdly, the switcheroo with the store-bought pickles was too elaborate and far-fetched, especially considering that if and when Aunt Bea opened one of the canning jars with the store-bought pickles, she would notice that the lid wasn't tightly attached, which leads to another unlikely aspect of this lame episode: she apparently never tasted even one of her own pickles after she made them, which anyone making anything would normally do first thing after the cooking was completed.

    Lastly, it gets too ridiculous and contrived - even as a sitcom - when Barney hands out the bad pickles as 'Safe Driver' awards to strangers driving by when he could've simply taken them to the dump, or thrown them out in a dumpster, or his own trash can at his home, or the one at the courthouse. It was a contrivance that totally fell flat and came off as silly and unnecessary.

    So as much as I love the series and the general theme of it, the acting talent of the main characters, and most of the 200+ shows/episodes, I was dissatisfied and disappointed with this one.
    helpful•2
    18
    • deedrala
    • Mar 25, 2020

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 18, 1961 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Mayberry Enterprises
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      26 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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